EASTER EGGS / EASTER BUNNY OR RABBIT

Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.

The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans. These eggs can be hidden for children to find in Easter morning, who may be told they were left by the Easter Bunny. They also may be put in a basket filled with real or artificial straw to resemble a bird's nest.

The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes. In legend, the creature brings baskets filled with colored eggs, candy and sometimes also toys to the homes of children.

Eggs, like rabbits and hares, are fertility symbols of antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the rising fertility of the earth at the Vernal Equinox.